the price; and, as to their powers for draught or burden, it is only necessary to say that men weighing twenty horseman's stone, or 280 pounds, find no difficulty, being willing to pay the price, in getting hunters nearly thorough-bred—none others than such could do it—capable of carrying them across country, over hedges, brooks and timber, as fast as fox-hounds can run. But—for there is a but—Boston went blind, and his best son, Lexington, has gone blind also, first of one eye, and then completely; and this fatal fact sets Boston aside forever as a country breeder's horse.
From the foregoing, then, may be deduced the following General Rules:
First. The more valuable horses are the most economical for all purposes.
Second. The more "blood" compatible with the size required, the better,—the high-bred animal having greater quickness, strength, bottom, health and vigor of constitution, as well as courage and pluck.
Third. The "blood" should be on the side of the sire; that is, the stallion should be thorough-bred, or at least of purer blood than the mare.
Fourth. Choose a stallion in every respect sound, short backed, well ribbed up, short in the saddle-place and long below, with high withers, broad loins, broad chest, straight rump, a high and muscular but not beefy crest, a lean, bony, well-set-on head, a bright, clear, smallish, well- placed eye, broad nostrils and small ears. His fore legs above the knee, and the hind legs above the hock, should be long and muscular, and below these joints short and bony. The bones of the legs should be large, flat, and free from excrescences—the sinews clear, straight, and hard to the touch.
